Over four years ago a bunch of people bought the Motorola Cliq XT thinking that it would eventually receive an update to a future version of Android. Instead, after months of putting up with silent delays, they were left stranded on Cupcake (yes, that's how long ago we're talking here). Now the class action lawsuit Haught v. Motorola Mobility taken up in the name of these jilted folks has resulted in a small reward.

With many Cliq XT users threatening to walk after Motorola’s Eclair update fiasco, T-Mobile is feeling quite sympathetic. In an effort to prevent more customers from cancelling and subscribing elsewhere, T-Mobile is now offering Cliq XT users some form of compensation through their Customer Loyalty department. Due to the proposed confidentiality of the memo the exact incentive is unknown. Cliq XT users are encouraged to call and find out what’s the best they can get to remain loyal to the purple T.

Well at least you're honest about it, Motorola. The company just updated its Software Upgrades page, and the news isn't good for owners of the CLIQ XT, i1, Flipout, or Charm. We already knew that the first of those four phones will eternally be stuck on Android 1.5, but what may come as a bit of a surprise is that the i1 is now in a similar situation (i.e. forever doomed to Cupcake), while neither the Flipout nor the Charm will ever see an OS version more recent than Eclair.

Even though Motorola's original CLIQ received a 2.1 upgrade a long time ago, CLIQ XT owners have been patiently (and impatiently) waiting for the good news ever since. Unfortunately, it will never come, as Motorola's official decision, posted on their Android Software Upgrade News, is to forever doom it to 1.5. It is hard to imagine which differences between the original CLIQ and the XT prompted Motorola to refuse the upgrade, because the phones are really very much the same, and the biggest difference between them is the physical keyboard on the CLIQ.

CLIQ XT owners may experience slight excitement reading this, but only slight - the OTA update version 1.32.20 rolling out now to CLIQ XTs around the country does not contain Android 2.1 - it's merely an incremental update over its existing ancient OS (what is it, 1.5 nowadays?). This update showed up a couple of days ago as a limited beta test, and, thankfully, it didn't take Motorola long to open the flood gates to all CLIQ XT owners.

Motorola has, once again, updated its timeline for device upgrades and has changed the expected Android 2.1 update time for the CLIQ, CLIQ XT, and the Backflip to be late Q3 to early Q4 of this year.

This is supposedly good news, but haven't CLIQ/CLIQ XT/Backflip users already waited long enough? Motorola seems to be throwing salt in customers' wounds by pushing this upgrade back. Not only do the owners of these devices now have to wait longer for an update, but the update they are waiting for has already become antiquated.

In what seems like preparation for their upcoming G2 handset, T-Mobile is planning on clearing out their selection of Android handsets by ending sales of the Motorola Cliq, Cliq XT, and T-Mobile MyTouch 1.2 on October 4.

Whatever the reason, it’s probably a good thing that these low-end handsets are going off the market - hopefully, it will help keep outdated OS's like Cupcake and Donut from growing in size.

No phone manufacturer is as fast with software updates as customers would like them to be, but Motorola has been particularly bad, especially with some of their MOTOBLUR phones which are still stuck on Android 1.5. But they do seem to be taking a step forward with a new timeline that lists when each of their phones around the world will be receiving updates to a later version of Android.

T-Mobile may not have the most impressive Android line-up compared to the other major carriers, but there’s no doubt they’ve invested a lot into the platform – after all, they were the first to bring us Android with the G1. Their investment in Android shows no signs of slowing down, as a leaked T-Mobile roadmap shows us that the carrier is planning on launching a total of seven more Android devices this year.

Charm

It seems a new Android phone is on its way to T-Mobile stores, but it might not be the superphone you’re looking for. The Motorola Charm, revealed in leaked training materials sent to Engadget, is running an enhanced version of Motoblur on top of Android 2.1.

However, what makes this phone unique is its form factor, a candybar style with a front-facing keyboard, similar to many Blackberry devices. The materials also note a variety of changes and additions to Motoblur in 2.1:

Seven home screens

Motoblur widgets can now be resized

Widgets include enhanced functionality including “Like” for Facebook and “Retweet” for Twitter

Usual Android 2.1 enhancements, such as multitouch and 3D Gallery

No technical specs were included, but given the nature of the device, you shouldn’t get your hopes up.